Headlines from around the world in sports

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals traded former World Series MVP David Freese to the Los Angeles Angels in a four-player deal yesterday.

The Cardinals also sent reliever Fernando Salas to the Angels in exchange for outfielder Peter Bourjos and prospect Randal Grichuk.

The 30-year-old Freese was the MVP of the 2011 NLCS and the World Series, setting a major-league record with 21 postseason RBI. He injured his back chasing a foul ball into the stands during spring training and never hit his stride last season.

He batted .262 with nine homers and 60 RBI, drop-offs from 2012 when he hit 20 homers with 79 RBI and batted .293.

The 26-year-old Bourjos is a career .251 hitter with speed, stealing 41 bases in 54 attempts during his four seasons. The 22-year-old Grichuk was an Angels first-round draft pick in 2009 and starred at Double-A Arkansas last season.

BASEBALL

Source: Mets, Young agree to one-year, $7.25M deal

NEW YORK – A person familiar with the negotiations said outfielder Chris Young and the New York Mets agreed to a $7.25 million, one-year contract.

The agreement is subject to a physical, the person said yesterday, speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press because the deal was not yet final.

The 30-year-old outfielder hit .200 with 12 homers and 40 RBI last season for Oakland, which acquired him from Arizona as part of a three-team trade after the 2012 season. He made $8.5 million this year, and the Athletics turned down an $11 million option.

BASEBALL

Cubs add Hyde, Ex-Red Sox 3B Mueller to coaching staff

CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs said Brandon Hyde will be the bench coach and former American League batting champion Bill Mueller will be the hitting coach on new Manager Rick Renteria’s staff.

The Cubs announced yesterday that Hyde will move from director of player development. Gary Jones is the new third base and infield coach and former Seattle Mariners first base coach Mike Brumley was hired as the assistant hitting coach.

Chris Bosio returns for a third year as the pitching coach. Mike Borzello is back with an expanded role as catching and strategy coach and Lester Strode returns as bullpen coach. The team has yet to choose first base coach.

NFL

Official suspended for profanity at Redskins player

ASHBURN, Va. – The NFL suspended a game official for one game without pay for making “a profane and derogatory statement” to Washington Redskins left tackle Trent Williams.

The league announced yesterday that umpire Roy Ellison will not work an NFL game this weekend.

Williams said he was called vulgar names by Ellison during a drive in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Williams said he has since heard from other players in the NFL that have had “the same experience” with Ellison.

The NFL said its game officials “are expected to avoid personal confrontations with players and be respectful of players and coaches at all times.”

NBA

Four-time champion Mikkelsen dies at 85

LOS ANGELES – Vern Mikkelsen, a Hall of Fame basketball player who won four NBA titles with the Minneapolis Lakers, has died. He was 85.

The Lakers said Mikkelsen died Thursday.

Mikkelsen was a six-time All-Star forward during 10 seasons with the Lakers. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

The Lakers drafted Mikkelsen in 1949. Playing alongside George Mikan and Jim Pollard, Mikkelsen won championships with the Lakers in 1950 and from 1952-54. He retired in 1959 with 10,063 career points.

NHL

Assault charge filed against Avalanche goalie

DENVER – Prosecutors filed a misdemeanor assault charge yesterday against Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov after his girlfriend said he attacked her last month.

Varlamov, 25, faces one count of third-degree assault. His attorney, Saskia Jordan of Denver, did not immediately return a call for comment yesterday.

Varlamov’s girlfriend, Evgeniya Vavrinyuk, told investigators he attacked her on Oct. 30 in her apartment. She said he knocked her down with a kick and stomped on her chest, according to an arrest affidavit.

She also accused him of dragging her by her hair and telling her that he would have beaten her more if they had been in Russia, authorities said.

If convicted, he could face a sentence ranging from probation to two years in jail, prosecutors said.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Tennessee unveils campus statue honoring Summitt

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Pat Summitt wears a smile rather than her famous stare in a bronze statue of the former Lady Vols coach that was unveiled yesterday in a dedication ceremony on Tennessee’s campus.

The 500-pound statue, which is 8 feet, 7 inches tall, shows Summitt leaning forward with arms folded. Behind the statue is a wall bearing Summitt’s signature. Below the signature are the words “Head Coach 1974-2012, Record 1,098-208, 8 National Championships.”

About 1,000 fans and dozens of former Lady Vols attended the ceremony. Summitt said that “I want everybody to know how much I appreciate what’s happened here today. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it, and I love you all.”

Summitt stepped down in April 2012, one year after announcing she had early-onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

ALPINE SKIING

Vonn will skip competition in Beaver Creek

DENVER – Lindsey Vonn will skip the World Cup races next week in Beaver Creek, Colo., as she recovers from a downhill training crash in which she partially tore one of the reconstructed ligaments in her surgically repaired right knee.

The reigning Olympic downhill champion will continue to go through therapy on her knee and is not ruling out a possible return to racing in Lake Louise, Alberta, the following week, her personal publicist, Lewis Kay, said in a statement yesterday.

The Sochi Games are less than three months away and it’s unclear whether her recent crash will affect her Olympic aspirations.

The four-time overall World Cup champion fell in a training run earlier this week at Copper Mountain, hurting the same knee she injured in a high-speed crash at the world championships in February. She also suffered minor facial abrasions and a bruised shoulder blade, which are on the mend.

COLLEGE LACROSSE

Duke accuser found guilty of murder

DURHAM, N.C. – The woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape was convicted of second-degree murder yesterday in the stabbing death of her boyfriend.

The jury deliberated for about six hours over two days before reaching its verdict in the trial of 34-year-old Crystal Mangum, who was sentenced to between 14 years and 18 years in prison.

Killed was 46-year-old Reginald Daye, who was stabbed on April 3, 2011. He died of complications 10 days later.

Mangum claimed the stabbing was a case of self-defense, saying Daye was beating her in a jealous rage when she grabbed a knife and “poked him in the side.”

Assistant District Attorney Charlene Franks told the jurors during closing arguments that the evidence did not back up Mangum’s story.